You can browse for photos on your computer by using the Collections and Computer tabs in the Navigation palette:
• The Collections tab is your library of virtual and physical folders. It offers an easy way to find and search for favorite photos because files that are accessed from the Collections page are imported to the catalog (a type of indexing). This means you can take full advantage of file management features such as tags, captions, and ratings when you want to find and sort photos. You can add or remove folders from the Collections page at any time.
• The Computer tab displays a complete list of all folders on your hard drive and desktop. Files that you access from the Computer tab are not imported to the catalog, so you can’t find or sort photos by using the file management features such as tags, captions, and ratings. Why use the Computer tab? It is a quick way to access files from a location that you don’t want to import to the catalog or don’t have time to import at the moment. For example, if you want to access an image in a folder that has a large number of files that you rarely use or if you want to access files in a temporary folder, the Computer tab is a good option.
When you select a folder in the Navigation palette, the photos in this folder appear as thumbnails in the Organizer palette.
1 In the Navigation palette, click one of the following tabs:
• Collections — displays a custom list of cataloged folders and a list of virtual collections
• Computer — displays a list of all folders and devices on your computer
2 Double-click a folder to display the subfolders it contains.
3 Click the folder that contains the photos that you want to view.
The thumbnails of all supported photo files in the selected folder appear in the Organizer palette.
You can also hide the list of subfolders in a folder by clicking the minus sign next to its name.
To add a folder to the Collections page
Manage workspace
1 In the Navigation palette, click the Collections tab.
2 In the Folders list, click the Browse More Folders button .
The Browse For Folder dialog box appears.
3 Navigate to the folder containing the images you want to add, and then click OK.
Note: All subfolders in the selected folder are cataloged, so select your folder carefully. Adding your profile folder or a root folder on your computer is not recommended—it can initiate a large amount of cataloging that you might not require.
The folder is added to the Folders list.
You can also create a folder on your computer by clicking the Make New Folder button in the Browse for Folder dialog box.
To remove a folder from the Collections page
Manage workspace
1 In the Navigation palette, click the Collections tab.
2 In the Folders list, right-click the folder that you want to remove.
3 Choose Remove From List.
Images within the folder retain their file management data (tags, ratings, captions), but removing the folder from the Collections page removes the folder from the catalog, so the photos aren’t searchable by their data.
To view all cataloged photos
Manage workspace
1 In the Navigation palette, click the Collections tab.
2 In the Smart Collections list, click the All Photos button .